Descartes Surprise Ending in Discourse on Method

In one of the most influential books in the history of Western philosophy, Rene Descartes outlines a method mental reasoning, which he applies to a wide variety of fields and intellectual endeavors. For the first few books of Discourse on the Method, Descartes outlines first how the method came about as he was a pupil at school and had the realization that he was not actually learning anything important. He was therefore motivated to discover what truly constituted learning, knowledge, and truth. The philosopher can do this by doubting everything first. By doubting, he can use reason to discern what is real from unreal. Doubting is the focus of Book Two of Discourse on the Method. The method that Descartes applies to fields like geometry, which the author points out in Book Two. His doubting is more personal in Book Three. The surprise ending to Discourse on the Method comes when suddenly Descartes is no longer doubting something. He spends so much time in the first three books on doubting information, and letting go of his beliefs, that when he launches into his cogito ergo sum assertion, it comes to the reader as a great surprise. The surprise ending is that Descartes finds the first thing he cannot doubt, which is the fact that he exists. His existence is something that cannot be doubted, or else it would create a metaphysical conundrum: it is not possible to even think about doubting without first existing. The smallest thought cannot come from nothingness, and so,Show MoreRelatedAnalyzing the Surprise Ending in Descartes Discourse on the Method and the Meditations1051 Words   |  4 PagesSurprise Ending in Descartes In the book Discourses on the Method and the Meditations, author Rene Descartes famously questions the existence of humanity. His most famous quotation, the one for whom he is most remembered is I think therefore I am (Descartes 11). According to this idea, so long as a being has the ability to think then they existed. Animals have brains and therefore they must exist. In order to truly, exist, to be a thinking entity, a person or organism must utilize the abilityRead MoreDescartes and the Existence of God751 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿Descartes: The existence of God Over the course of his treatise Discourse on the Method, the philosopher Rene Descartes attempts to refute radical skepticism, or the idea that we can know nothing with the mind, because what we consider reality may simply be a delusion or a dream. Descartes begins, however, by taking a posture of doubting everything, and then attempting to discern what could be known for certain. Rather than attempting to affirm his existence, I thought that a procedure exactlyRead MoreAnalysis of Descartes Argument788 Words   |  3 Pageswords) which analyzes the surprise ending of the reading selection.? Reading selection from Descartes Discourse on the Method (Part IV). Descartes begins with the problem of being able to prove his own existence but ends up with an argument proving the existence of God. Read more about the Discourse on the Method located at HYPERLINK http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/pdf/descdisc.pdf http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/pdf/descdisc.pdf. In his Discourse on the Method, Descartes essentially asked hisRead MoreMetz Film Language a Semiotics of the Cinema PDF100902 Words   |  316 Pagestranslate Greimas s concept of actant is misleading and actant is usually kept (see Ducrà ´t and Todorov, Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Sciences of Language, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979, p. 224), and discours image when translated as image discourse is not very clear, since it is referring to film, which is made up of images. The following rough spots occur only once each: Unusual (p. 5) translates weakly insolite, which has also the connotation of strange, disquieting, surprising, unexpectedRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pages.......................................................................... 169 Unintended Innuendo ....................................................................................................................... 172 Disobeying Rules of Discourse......................................................................................................... 173 Not Sticking to the Issue and Not Treating It Fairly ..................................................................... 174 Not Accepting

Smoking Tobacco Is The Leading Cause Of Death Worldwide

Smoking is one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide. It affects the body by damaging major organs and arteries. People that smoke are often at a greater risk of having heart related and respiratory issues than nonsmokers. Tobacco products such as, snuff and chewing tobacco also contribute to similar health issues and risk. The idea of banning smoking and tobacco products is great because it could prevent millions of deaths yearly. There are many different negative side effects that come along with the use and smoking of tobacco. Smoking tobacco is often referred to as a â€Å"slow death†, because it shortens a person’s life expectancy. The use of tobacco often leads to many different health related risk and issues. Lung cancer is a major long-term effect of smoking cigarettes and similar tobacco products. Smoking 2-3 cigarettes daily can cause cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States. The narrowing of blood vessel s that lead to major organs are also a health issue due to excessive smoking. High blood pressure and increased heart rate is due to the constriction of blood vessels caused by smoking. Often times smoking leads to strokes, which occur from the clotting of blood inside of the body. Major blood flow is reduced by the blockage caused by tobacco smoking. Smoking can harm almost every organ and slowly deteriorates your overall health. There are negative effects from tobacco use to pregnant women, and evenShow MoreRelatedThe Leading Causes Of Lung Cancer1350 Words   |  6 PagesSeptember 2, 2014 The Leading Causes of Lung Cancer State Standard: 6.4.A Cancer is a disease that plagues millions of people annually (â€Å"Lung†). Lung cancer develops when healthy cells in the lungs are compromised by chemicals, pathogens, or radiation (Henderson). In the early twentieth century, before cigarette smoking and toxic man-made air pollutants became more commonplace, lung cancer was relatively rare (Henderson). It is now the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, resulting in an estimatedRead MoreLung Cancer : Causes And Effects1329 Words   |  6 PagesThe leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the United States and worldwide is lung cancer. Lung cancer is responsible for thirty percent of cancer deaths in the United States. The deaths caused by breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer combined do not add up to the deaths that lung cancer causes. In 2007, 158,683 people, 88,243 men and 70,354 women died from lung cancer in the United States (Eldridge, 2012). Out of the 158,683 people that died from lung cancer in 2007, 135Read MoreSmoking Cigarettes Should Be Legal1219 Words   |  5 Pagesthe audience that smoking is okay because doctors are promoting that it is good for you, and it will even enhance your life; however, this is not true. Back then, people thought that smoking a cigarette was not harmful. But in actuality, over the years, it has been found that smoking is harmful to one’s self, and potentially lead to serious complications. The advertisement I chose, More Doctors Smoke Camels than any other Cigarettes, was created in 1946 by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (More DoctorsRead MoreSmoking in the United States Essay1286 Words   |  6 PagesSmoking is on the rise with adults and teenagers. Nearly twenty-one percent of adults smoke cigarettes, and twenty percent of teenagers smoke in the United States of America. Smoking has many negative effects, but also a few positive effects. However, the positive effects are outweighed by the negative effects. In June 19, 1986, anti-smoking activists were trying to pass a bill in New York that would restrict smoking in restaurants and other public areas, the first major action ever taken by NewRead MoreBan On Advertising For Tobacco Smoking901 Words   |  4 Pagesadvertising for tobacco smoking. On Feb 6, 2001, the Government of India announced they would impose a ban on advertising for tobacco smoking. Healthcare reports identified smoking tobacco was the leading cause of preventable deaths. Smoking tobacco caused cancer, lung disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema and chronic bronchitis. The increase in illness and death related to tobacco smoking prompted the Indian Government to propose a ban of all forms of tobacco advertisingRead MoreTobacco Kills One Person Every Six Seconds (Sahil). The1678 Words   |  7 Pages Tobacco kills one person every six seconds (Sahil). The use of tobacco has been around for many years, and it seems only to be getting wor se. The human body is affected in an abundance of ways due to the abuse of tobacco products. If individuals would stop the use of tobacco, this would help prevent many diseases, negative health consequences and possibly early death according to their age. Tobacco use is a problem because, it causes numerous health effects on individuals, such as addiction, birthRead MoreBanning Cigarettes : Symbolic Inhalation Of Death1406 Words   |  6 PagesDones Mrs. Nellon Am. Lit. Per.1 13 July, 2015 Banning Cigarettes Cigarettes the symbolic inhalation of death that fills our bodies with the relief of self imposed stresses of life; to make easier a journey by bringing a certain end closer with each breath; but do we even care? Do we even care about our well-being? Do we even care about the environment? Do we really want our children smoking cigarettes? Don’t you want to live long enough to see your grandchildren grow up. Seeing them take theirRead MoreSmoking is a Major Public Health Problem732 Words   |  3 PagesSmoking Issues Smoking is worldwide problem. It has been proved by many studies to be harmful and deadly. â€Å"In the United States alone, more than 440,000 people die annually from the effects of smoking. (The Effects of Smoking). There are several negative effects of smoking on the health and the environment. Health Issues Smoking is a major public health problem. According to the Surgeon General’s report, some of the hazard effects of tobacco smoke are directly related to the more than 7,000 chemicalsRead MoreMorbidity: Lung Cancer1672 Words   |  7 Pagestissue. The main causes that contribute to lung cancer include inhaling carcinogens (basically, smoking), exposure to ionizing radiation, viral infections and even air pollution. These factors basically damage the tissues lining the bronchi in the lung, leading the cancer to develop further (Vaporciyan Nesbitt JC, 2000). Primary lung cancers that develop in the epithelial tissues of the lung are known as carcinomas and claim the top spot in terms of leading cancer-related death causes. As of 2004,Read MoreThe Effects Of Smoking On The Us, Britain And Russia968 Words   |  4 PagesSmoking is a major cause of several deadly diseases and deaths worldwide. It is also the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Smoking is now considered deplorable due to the increasing understanding of its detrimental effects to our health especially in western countries (CDC, 2014). This essay will address the change in attitudes towards smokers in the US, Britain and Russia. In the past, Smoking played an integral role in our social lives. Smokers were highly respected; one

Services Marketing Increasing Customer Participation

Question: Discuss about the Essay for Services Marketing of Increasing Customer Participation. Answer: Introduction: This essay aims to discuss the evaluation of service encounter, which involves the personal interaction of the consumers with the service employees, in the process of availing the service. In todays highly competitive world, the importance of proper and efficient service management cannot be overstated. When an organization is capable of rendering proper service to its consumers, it helps them in providing maximum consumer satisfaction that in turn helps the organization in customer retention and brand recognition. Shostack defined the term Service Encounter, as the particular period, when a consumer interacts with an organization, through its employees, or its physical facilities. The concept of service encounter is very important as if the service being offered to the consumer exceeds or at least meets the consumers expectations, then only the organization will be able to leave a positive impression in the minds of the consumers (Dabholkar , 2015). In case, the consumer has an unp leasant experience with the service employees, he might opt for some another organization. Discussion: A consumer is the real asset of an organization, and as such the quality of service rendered to the consumers, become a matter of paramount importance. On visiting an organization, attention is not only paid to what service is being provided, but also how is it being provided to the consumer. Woolworths, is one of the most reputed supermarket chains in Australia, known for its round the clock service, in its online sale of grocery products. These organizations, such as Woolworths, which provides virtual shopping experiences, to its consumers, must ensure that the employees are quick and prompt in responding to the orders of the consumers. When a call was being made for ordering a few grocery products, from Woolworths, the employees of the organization took considerable time, before one of them responded to the call. However, the employees claimed that too many people called up at the same time, and there was a shortage of time, in responding to the calls in a short time, and hence t here was delay in the whole process. Not only so, the website page of the organization is also not very responsive, and that largely affects the overall reputation of the organization. In the book named, Delivering Quality Service, the authors, Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry, spoke about the importance of RATER model, in evaluating the power of an organization, in satisfying its existent consumers. Here, the RATER model shall be used in order to analyze and measure the extent to which Woolworths, as an organization, is capable of satisfying the demands and the expectations of its consumers. However, for carrying out the RATER audit, a Gap analysis will be carried out, by considering each of the five dimensions of the RATER model (Yan et al., 2013). The RATER model consists of 5 components- Reliability, Assurance, Tangibility, Empathy and Responsiveness ("The RATER Model: Five Ways to Measure Service", 2016). As far as the question of Reliability is concerned, the organization is quite reliable, as it is very systematically organized in reaching out to the consumer, and providing him whatever he has asked for. Since, Woolworths is one of the very few retail organizations that has introduced the concept of e-commerce, it is convenient to place an order, without the need to visit the shop. However, the organization needs to be more Responsive, in getting in touch with the consumers. The service has to be more prompt and accurate in time, because if the employees are opting for virtual shopping methods, they are surely looking for time-intensive ways of getting their goods and services delivered (Sorensen et al., 2013). For this reason, the employees should be provided proper training. Since at present, there are limited number of employees, responsible for taking the order from the consumers at night, the management authority has to hire a few fresh employees. Although, the quality of the goods being delivered by Woolworths, is undeniably high, the quality of service, is not yet up to the mark. Further, the website page is so disappointing, as it is very slow and not very regularly updated, and does not contain many food items, sold in the physical shops of the organization (Lee et al., 2013). Hence, in terms of Assurance, the organization cannot provide a very high quality service to the consumers. It is recommended, that the organization regularly updates its official website page, and trains its employees to repair the website page, making it more user friendly. However, the customer care service is incredibly great, and the employees of the organization accept the feedbacks, both the positive and negative ones, with much patience and adequate care. When the customer service authority was being made awar e of the delay in service, the customer service agent listened about the inconvenience, with great patience, warmth and empathy. Not only so, he apologized on behalf of the organization, and the whole gesture was quite appreciating. The quality of Empathy while dealing with the consumer, can make him feel valued and appreciated, and hence great importance should be attached to the same, while rendering service to the consumers. In terms of tangibility, the employees, the hired workers are more of less being provided with adequate training, to serve the consumers with sufficient care and attention (Soderlund et al., 2013). There are usually various kinds of customers, and each one can be highly distinguished from him or her, in terms of his or her expectations from an organization. There are few customers who usually have a low level of endurance, and as such they would prefer a service that is very quick, responsive and prompt. In absence of tight range of service, these consumers may even opt for other service. In most of the cases, a consumer, while availing the service from an organization, considers the service encounter system, such as the employees interaction with the consumer, physical facility, and other factors an important part of the service itself. Hence, it is important to satisfy the demands of the consumers, more efficiently than the rival organizations. The service expectations of the consumers, can be influenced by various factors, such as word of mouth communication or past experience. In case of word of mouth communication, an individual getting influenced to avail a service, base d on the recommendation of a friend or after watching the advertisement on TV, the expectation of the consumer is usually not very high. On the other hand, in case of past experience, the consumers previous exposure to similar service, may increase the expectation level of the consumers. Keeping this in mind, an organization needs to adopt strategies, that will help in the quality management of the organization (Marr , 2013). Reliability is a very important issue, in any business organization, and it must ensure that the consumers are able to enjoy an uninterrupted service on part of the employees, serving them. In order to meet the consumers expectations, an organization must make its service accessible as much as possible, and if needed, the organization should be taking help of metrics to measure the extent of its consumer satisfaction. For this, conducting surveys on the consumers, can help in understanding the whole situation. When consumers visit Woolworths, they expect a very high quality service, and it is the responsibility of the management authority of Woolworths, to ensure that it is being able to rise up to the expectation level of its consumers.. In absence of the same, the management perception gap will emerge, which gradually ruins the reputation of the organization (Rao et al., 2015). Further, the organization should ensure that there is no market communication gap. Usually, Woolworths s tays true and loyal to the promises, it makes to the consumers, but despite that fact, much complaints were being made, in the recent past, when several consumers could not gain access to the discounts and offers Woolworths promised its consumers, through online shopping mode. The service delivery gap, should also be considered with equal attention (Wilson et al., 2012). This gap is defined as the difference between what the consumers expect the service of an organization to be, and what is the actual standard of service being provided. Woolworths, itself is certified by British Standards Instituition, that ensures that all the products sold by Woolworths, is at par with the safety standards (Vargo and Lasch , 2014). The employees, at the same time, responsible for providing the services, are trained, and since they belong to diverse cultural backgrounds, there is lesser possibility of conflict with the consumers of different ethnic backgrounds. In fact, the employees are well behav ed, and extremely friendly in the way they interact with the consumers. Their responsiveness to the inquiries of the consumers, and a willingness to assist them, once they visit the shop, is quite commendable (Sirianni et al., 2013). Conclusion: The concept of service encounter is highly important. This is because, service encounter is directly proportional to the satisfaction of the consumers, and is indirectly related to the perceived value and trust of the organization. According to Parasuraman, the satisfaction of the consumers depends not only on the products being sold and the services being offered, but also on how the consumers are being treated in the process. Hence, keeping this point in consideration, the organizations are trying to improve each individual service encounter, by bringing change in the structure of the organization, its philosophy or its culture . Reference List: Dabholkar, P. A. (2015). How to improve perceived service quality by increasing customer participation. InProceedings of the 1990 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference(pp. 483-487). Springer International Publishing. Lee, H. J., Suh, J. Y., Yoon, K. H. (2013). A comparative study on the effect of experiences on service encounter, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty in the homemade and foreign coffee shop brandsCentered on the moderating role of brand trust.Journal of Foodservice Management Society of Korea,16(3), 197-227. Marr, N. E. (2013). Do managers really know what service their customers require?.International Journal of Physical Distribution Logistics Management. Rao, C. P., Rosenberg, L. J. (2015). Service Provider and Receiver Perceptual Gap Analysis For Effective Dental Specialist Services Marketing. InProceedings of the 1989 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference(pp. 583-587). Springer International Publishing. Sirianni, N. J., Bitner, M. J., Brown, S. W., Mandel, N. (2013). Branded service encounters: Strategically aligning employee behavior with the brand positioning.Journal of Marketing,77(6), 108-123. Sderlund, M., Liljander, V., Gummerus, J., Hellman, P., Lipkin, M., Oikarinen, E. L., ... T. Liljedal, K. (2014). Preferential treatment in the service encounter.Journal of Service Management,25(4), 512-530. Srensen, F., Sundbo, J., Mattsson, J. (2013). Organisational conditions for service encounter-based innovation.Research Policy,42(8), 1446-1456. The RATER Model: Five Ways to Measure Service. (2016).Mindtools.com. Retrieved 1 July 2016, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/rater.htm Vargo, S. L., Lusch, R. F. (2014). Service-dominant logic.What it is not, What it. Wilson, A., Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner, M. J., Gremler, D. D. (2012).Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm. McGraw Hill. Yan, A., Solomon, S., Mirchandani, D., Lacity, M., Porra, J. (2013). The role of service agent, service quality, and user satisfaction in self-service technology

Why Study Accounting Essay Example For Students

Why Study Accounting Essay Word Count: 2681 Justin Denmanand Auditing Processes March 4, 2000 Writing Assignment #1 Revenue Recognition Policies The purpose of this paper is to compare the revenue recognition policies of two companies in the search, detection, navigation, guidance, and aeronautical systems industry. The two companies I have selected are Aerosonic Corporation, and Esco Electronics Company. Esco Electronics Company is engaged in the design, manufacture, sale and support of engineered products. These products are used principally in filteration/fluid flow applications, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing, and electric utility communications and control systems. The filtration/fluid flow and EMC testing products are supplied to a broad base of industrial and commercial customers worldwide. At the present time, electric utility communications systems are marketed primarily to customers in North America. The four primary industry segments of Esco are Filtration/Fluid Flow, Test, Communicati ons, and other. We will write a custom essay on Why Study Accounting specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now In order for Esco to conform with generally accepted accounting principles, management must make careful estimates in preparing the financial statements. These estimates are for anticipated contract costs and revenues earned during the life of the contract. These amounts affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities on the companys financial statements. Actual results could differ from these numbers. Revenues are recognized on commercial sales when products are shipped or when services are performed. Revenue on production contracts are recorded when specific contract terms are fulfilled. These amounts are determined either by the units of production or delivery methods. Revenues from cost reimbursement contracts are recorded as costs are incurred, plus fees earned. Revenue under long-term contracts in which the previous two methods are inappropriate, the percentage-of-completion method is used. Revenue under engineering contracts are generally recognized as certain milestones are attained. The percentage-of-completion method recognizes a portion of the estimated gross profit for each period based on progress to date. Progress to date is based on three factors. These three factors are the costs incurred to date, the most recent estimate of the projects total cost, and the most recent gross profit percentage. Progress to date is assumed to be the proportion of the projects costs incurred to date divided by total estimated costs. This fraction is known as the estimated percentage of completion, and is the estimated percentage of completion. However, he biggest flaw with this method is that it only deals with costs. This means that there may not be strong correlation between physical progress and costs incurred. Conceptually, one would want to match revenues when the earnings process is judged to be complete. Since costs dont necessarily mean physical completion, the revenues may not represent actual completion. However, this method does match all revenues with appropriate expenses. The audit risks associated with this method is that cost incurrence could be accelerated to increase the estimate of the percentage completed. Lets say Esco is performing a three-year contract. For simplicity, lets say the contract price is $1000. The first year of the contract, actual costs incurred to date is $200, and the estimated remaining costs is $400. This would call for a projected $400 gross profit on the entire project ($1000-$600). To figure out the gross profit for the first year, you would take the actual costs to date ($200) and divide that by the estimated total cost ($600). This equals the estimated percentage of completion (33%). You would then take this number and multiply it by the total project gross profit (33%*$400), and that would be the gross profit earned to date. In subsequent years, you would take the profit earned to date and subtract from it the gross profit recognized in previous years. The next company Id like to talk about is Aerosonic Corporation, who is in the same industry as Esco. The primary business of Aerosonic Corporation is to manufacture and sell aircraft instruments to government and commercial users from its plants in Florida, Virginia, and Kansas. Prior to 1996, the company also sold non-munitions components for artillery projectiles to the U.S. government and automotive and truck parts to commercial customers. The companys customers are worldwide. Aerosonic generally recognizes revenue from sales of its products on the accrual basis on the date such products are shipped. In certain circumstances, the U.S. government accepts title of products, even though the products are on the Companys premises. When the U.S. government accepts title in writing, and assumes all risks associated with those products, then the Company records these items as sales. Like Esco, Aerosonic follows the percentage-of completion method to account for long-term engineering contracts. Revisions in costs and revenue estimates are reflected in the periods in which the revisions are made. Provisions for estimated losses are determined without regard to the percentage-of-completion. Like Esco, Aerosonics financial statements are based heavily on managements estimates. To auditors, this raises a red flag. Auditors must be careful when conducting the audits of these particular companies. It is rather easy, and conceivable for management to manipulate earnings to meet projected totals. Another important area is that a company like Aerosonic has one major customer, and that is U.S. government. Another important factor is that Aerosonic recognizes revenue when title transfers to the governme nt. Since the two parties are closely related in a business sense, Aerosonic may have the incentive to push titles of products to the government to meet target revenues. Auditors should take care in determining whether or not the financial statements conform generally accepted accounting principles.